• The Cambodian government announced it will not allow a "Miss Landmine" beauty pageant to occur."The landmine beauty contest would make a mockery of Cambodia's land mine victims. The government does not support this contest," said a spokesperson. •

• Dina Babbitt, who as a teenager kept herself and her mother alive at Auschwitz by painting portraits of prisoners for the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele, has died at 86. Ms. Babbitt later worked as a commercial artist in America. • U2 is set to become the topic of discussion at an academic conference held at North Carolina Central University in October. U2: The Hype and The Feedback will examine the role of the mega-band in "changing the worlds of music, entertainment, popular culture, humanitarian relief, peace and social justice efforts." • Scientists from the University of Leeds believe that they may have discovered a unique "DNA signature" in human sperm that can only be recognized by eggs from the same species. The "lock and key" model may explain why otherwise healthy men are infertile and why we've never spotted any centaurs roaming around. • Speaking of horses, filly Rachel Alexandra beat out the competition at the Haskell Invitational this Sunday with the New York Times is calling a "preternatural performance." Rachel Alexandra is the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness Stakes, and she is the only filly to win the Haskell. • 13-year-old Jackie Rodriguez is pretty awesome: She has thrown 25 no-hitters in the past four seasons, but she still tells NPR that practicing an instrument is more difficult than playing softball. • Olympic gymnast Dominique Dawes on her new career in television journalism: "I realized I love motivating and I love empowering and I love inspiring people. I did that as an athlete for 18 years, and I am able to do that as a motivational speaker now as well as doing work on television." • Police in northern Nigeria have found another group of women and children that may have been abducted by the Boko Haram sect. The group of 140 was found locked in buildings in Maiduguri, and many of them were suffering from pneumonia, fever and rashes. • On Sunday, a bid to set a new world record for the number of women photographed wearing bikinis in one place failed when only several hundred ladies showed up at Southend-on-Sea in Essex. The current record was set earlier this month in Russia, when 1,923 women participated in the prearranged photo shoot. • New research conducted by the Tokyo police indicates that 24% of elderly shoplifters are driven to steal by feelings of loneliness, and another 8% cited lack of motivation in life as their main reason for shoplifting. • The 14-year-old Liberian boy charged with raping an 8-year-old girl in Arizona will be tried as an adult, said the Maricopa County attorney. Steven Tuopeh is facing more than 57 years in prison if convicted on all counts. • Researchers at the Heidelberg University Hospital have examined the brain scans of women suffering from anorexia and found that patients with eating disorders are more likely to stick to familiar behavior responses than those in the control group. They linked the patterns in behavior to a certain network pathway, which plays a role in controlling actions under rapidly changing environmental demands. •